He stormed out.

I wrote the conversation in my notebook, then finished the budget for the following month.

Before, a raised voice could make me abandon a subject.

Now it reminded me to slow down and get the facts.

PART 11

The first court conference didn’t resemble the dramatic hearing I’d imagined.

There were no speeches exposing the cheating husband.

There were two attorneys, a judge who had read the filings, and an agenda mostly concerned with stability for two very young children.